Dished Up

Why store your prizes behind cupboard doors when you can see and enjoy them every time you walk into a room? With their soft shapes and muted colors, antique ceramics give depth to unassuming walls.

"What better way to enjoy the creamware and transferware I collect?" asks Atlanta designer Jackye Lanham, who confesses she's always looking for more to display.

While collecting old, rare pieces can be a feather in your cap, deciding on an arrangement can be complicated. Lanham hangs ceramics of all kinds and shapes for her clients, often using their own collections.

"European manor houses and castles had whole sets of ceramics on the walls," Lanham explains. "The displays were a show of wealth in the same way that armaments in the entry hall were a show of power."

But for today's interiors, taking the idea one wall at a time makes the process less overwhelming. Lanham suggests a practical start: "Choose one wall and put up ceramics as an alternative to art. Even a group of solid white platters actually gives flat walls interest."

Of course, dramatic arrangements are appropriate in some settings. In these cases, the key to composing complex groupings of different-sized pieces is to start with the parts and make a pattern. "Think of a 'pattern' as a mosaic that incorporates all the pretty little parts into a whole," says Virginia designer Barry Dixon. "You will eventually see that the pattern you're making has far greater punch than the individual pieces."

For inspiration, Dixon will base a pattern on a fabric, such as damask or chintz, or he'll select a location in the room to establish an uncomplicated shape, such as a sunburst, fan, circle, square, or rectangle. "Creating symmetry with an even number of pieces is important in more formal settings and in traditional interiors," Dixon says, "but you can also arrange an odd number -- rows of three, for example -- in a grid pattern for a contemporary look."

Another important factor to consider is the relationship of the grouping with the room's furnishings, scale, colors, and ambience. Dixon staggered a group of lavender transferware plates on a wall of lavender toile. "The plates neither conflict nor disappear against the pattern," he says. "They are a quiet way of decorating the busy wall."

For Atlanta designer Dan Carithers, the first step in implementing the design is to examine the area he wants to fill and the pieces he wants to use, especially the oddly shaped ones because they give a composition more weight and distinction. He asks himself, "What am I trying to achieve in this particular space? What are my geometric alternatives?" Although he might draw a pattern on paper, he always lays out the pattern on the floor in an area that corresponds in size to the wall he is composing.

London designer Jane Churchill follows a similar process. She describes her technique simply: "I always measure the wall, place the plates on the floor within these measurements, and then move them around until I'm happy with the arrangement."

After deciding on a shape for her arrangement, Dallas designer Beverly Field plans the design on the floor, and then hangs the middle piece first. Then she alternates hanging pieces symmetrically on the sides, top, and bottom until the design is complete. "Decide if you want to work smaller plates inside the geometry you've made," she says. "It all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle."

HANGING HINTS

• Keep the colors uniform. The pieces do not all have to be the same pattern or manufacturer, but they should all be in one shade. Adding a few solid pieces can help highlight certain items.
 • Incorporate other objects for interest. Let the textures of your collections play off one another. Surround a painting with plates and platters. Carved or gold-leaf brackets add depth and contrast.
 • Don't limit yourself to the dining room. Plates are always beautiful in the dining room, but they look unexpected and fresh in other rooms. Look for areas such as a hallway, bathroom, dressing area, or outdoor stucco wall.
 • Think outside the box. Try unique shapes, such as a sunburst or undulating lines. Or use three or five related pieces to create an arc over a mirror. Vertical rows of graduated sizes flanking a canopy bed makes another impressive display.

RESOURCES: Jane Churchill Interiors Ltd. (to the trade), 011-44-207-730-8564, www.janechurchillinteriors.com; Jacquelynne P. Lanham & Associates, 404/364-0472; Suzanne Rheinstein & Associates/Hollyhock, 310/777-0100, www.hollyhockinc.com; Barry Dixon, 540/341-8501, www.barrydixon.com; Beverly Field Interiors, 214/522-6162.